More hipster than thou? America’s top cities for hipsters

We’ll not even try to define “hipster,” since the term, as overused as it is, resists definition. Is it someone in skinny jeans riding a fixed-gear bike? Is it someone with a curly mustache circa 18121892, thick-framed glasses and progressive politics? Or can I wear a suit and tie, but still qualify as “hipster” if I attend every Noise Pop show? No one seems to be able to agree if “hipsterism” is a fashion choice, a lifestyle, or a mentality. Perhaps it’s all three.

Whoever they are, hipsters have made an impact on mainstream media and society. As a group, the liberal-leaning young adults tend to be educated and discerning about how they spend their money, favoring indie rock, locally-made, and DIY over the products of big corporations, and should be credited for contributing to vibrant art and counter-culture in America’s cities.

But what cities are best for living la vida hipster? Yes, it’s been measured. Travel and Leisure has just named the top American cities for hipsters, an article that got picked up by Yahoo news. And yes, SF made the list– high on the list– but even with our Mission District, our lower Haight, our SoMa, we’re apparently not number 1.

The Top 3

We offer the top three hipster cities, according to this study, for your enjoyment and debate. To see the full top 10, visit the original article here.

1. Seattle, WA

Tech-savvy, highly educated, well read, and heavily caffeinated, Seattle’s hipsters win first place. We agree the progressive city’s contribution to music, green and technological innovation, as well as the nation’s supply of flannel shirts qualifies it for this list– not to mention an ability to flourish in spite of (because of?) the heavy rainfall. Still, number 1 hipster city in the USA? There we might beg to differ…

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The #1 city of hip? Photo via Cary Bozeman, Wiki Commons

The #1 city of hip? Photo via Cary Bozeman, Wiki Commons

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Progressives can take a beating. Photo via Left Eye on Books.

Progressives can take a beating. Photo via Left Eye on Books.

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Politics and coffee! Photo via NewsType.com

Politics and coffee! Photo via NewsType.com

More hipster than thou? America's top cities for hipsters

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2. Portland, OR

Portland gets called a “hippy city” by the uninitiated but in fact, it is much more a “hipster city.” Portlandians (many heavily bearded) eschew big corporate anything, favoring locally-made, locally grown everything. Portland is also the country’s most bikeable city and has a lively art/music/food/green/literary and tech scene. Here too we see long periods of crappy weather seems to fuel, rather than dampen, the hipster fire. From personal experience, we’d put Portland on top of Seattle as the “hipster-est.”

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Panorama of progressives. Photo via Wiki Commons.

Panorama of progressives. Photo via Wiki Commons.

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Easy being green in Portland. Photo via Energy and Climate Change Partnership of the Americas/Wiki Commons

Easy being green in Portland. Photo via Energy and Climate Change Partnership of the Americas/Wiki Commons

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Protesting corporate America! Photo via Constitution Daily blog

Protesting corporate America! Photo via Constitution Daily blog

Photo: blog.constitutioncenter.org

More hipster than thou? America's top cities for hipsters

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3. San Francisco, CA

Ah, here we are. Finally! Yes, our highly educated, super-70s-vintage, fixed-gear riding city made the top 3. Our tech, food, and art scene all qualify us, and we get credit for being “more diverse” in our hipster population than some other cities on the list. We have our fair share of wind and fog as well, so we’re starting to wonder if challenging weather isn’t perhaps an essential element to hipster-ism… sort of like a grain of sand creates that essential agitation in an oyster that renders a pearl…

Whether or not you liken hipster-culture to a pearl in oyster of American life, you can help us decide if the above list seems ranked correctly. And while you’re at it, rank SF’s neighborhoods. Where can we find the best of hipster living in our fair city? But do it right– get in the spirit of hispter-ism: Don your too-short, too-tight $2 pants; charge up your super-expensive mobile device; then deliver your intellectual/obscure allusion-soaked/devastatingly witty remark in the comments below.